Tag: bmw

It’s no secret that I’m an avid reader of The Garage Journal. You’ll find that most of the garage builds on this site come from that very forum. One thing I love about GJ threads is that once the actual garage/shed is complete, the OP will continue to update the thread with their tinkering activity of choice, so you never know what subject matter the thread will end up being about. But in this case, the garage is used for restoring and maintaining classic cars to a very high standard, perfect fodder for Build-Threads.com!

What do you do with yourself after building a V10-powered E30? You do it all over again, this time with a slightly more exotic subject. This Lotus Exige gets stretched and widened in order to fit the M5-sourced 10-cylinder power-plant, culminating in a very sleek and capable supercar-fighter that gets put through it’s paces at the track.

Yep, that’s right, a BMW owned by the King himself! After starring in an exhibition, the lucky roadster finds itself at the hands of the team at BMW Classic, where it receives a full factory-fresh restoration documented with stunning photography. This has some similarities to the Official Porsche Restoration that I featured way back in 2012 (posts 1, 2 and 3), where a factory-official restoration wing gives new life to a classic from their marquee.

A little while back I received an email from a member of the Clarion Builds project about advertising on this very site (more info here if you’re interested). Well their first project car is now complete, and don’t I feel like an idiot for sleeping on this, especially when it was introduced to me at the project’s inception! It’s great to see a big company whose main game isn’t restoration getting in on the subculture we love so much; tearing cars down and building them back up. Corporate-backed promotional vehicles generally used to be based on modern cars with a body kit and wheels (maybe some light engine work too), but lately the act of classic car restoration seems to be in the spotlight, and I’m damn happy to see it. I recently saw a video on my YouTube feed of Chris Forsberg driving this very car, which made me go back to the channel and realise there’s a heap of videos of the build process that I missed. I tip my hat to Clarion and their Clarion Builds project, and I can’t wait to see how the next car (Honda NSX!!) turns out. Apart from the 16 videos posted below, you can see an image gallery of the project here.

After club racing his S54 powered 1979 e12 BMW for years, Brendan decided he’d like to try something a bit different. So with that in mind, he picked himself up an E9 to build into his vision of a resto-modded club racer. For powering duties, he chose a s38b36 straight-6 out of an E34 M5, and added other goodies such as a full roll cage, side-exit exhaust tunnel, steering rack conversion, and a bunch of hand made suspension components. The car is transformed from a clapped out bare shell (and I mean BARE!) to a smooth green retro track toy, something that I think any one of us wouldn’t mind punting around a race track.

I love how Volvos are the domestic “do it all” cars of the Scandinavian region. They get pulled apart and re-built in a host of different ways that the rest of the world would never dare. This 242 begins it’s build thread with a BMWv10 already nestled in the engine bay, and things only get more serious from there on in. I wish there was some more technical imagery to go with this one, but it’s still a great build and won’t take you too long to get through.

I know for the most part that Build-Threads.com is kind of a one-way thing. I post, you read, that type of deal. But the truth is that I love hearing from readers via email, Twitter, the Facebook page, and the new Facebook Discussion Group. Whilst everyone’s projects can’t be featured, I still love seeing what people are up to. Most of the time it’s regular guys like myself, tinkering away at their project in the garage, but every now and then something far beyond the reaches of us common folk greets me. Just the other day, Lewis from Peasnell Racing Designs sent me a Facebook message with a few images of his work, letting me know very politely that he’d love to see his work on the site if I ever had a ‘slow news day’. What I saw left me gobsmacked, and I couldn’t wait to share it with everyone and hopefully give Lewis a platform for his work via this humble website. Before we start salivating over the fabrication and design, I’ll leave you with this quote from Lewis to remind us that, although his work might be otherworldly, deep down he’s just a normal guy like you and me…

“Growing up I loved LEGO and drawing, this is just my grown up version, I’m sure.”

Visit Peasnell Racing Designs on Facebook and give them a like to stay in touch with their future work. I’d like to thank Lewis for allowing me the opportunity to share his work with the world on Build-Threads.com.

Ahh, the humble LSx swap. Some people might think that LS-swaps are overdone, played out, or whatever your buzzword of choice is. But I guess if you provide a range of compact, affordable, reliable, and easy to tune engines, people are going to use them! Personally, I’m all for them, they look great and appear more than willing to accept power additions, either naturally or artificially aspirated. The LSx in this build is being used to power an E36BMW, and while the swap itself is interesting enough, it was a small detail of the build that drew me in, and by small I mean one little accelerator bracket. Yep, that’s all it takes! It’s a small part but it was done so neatly that it gave me a feel for the rest of the build and made me want to read more, and I was rewarded with a whole lot of attention to detail.

Do you guys even read these intros? Probably not! I mean how many times can you hear me say that this is one of my favourite types of builds, that the owner/builder is a craftsman, that the photos are great, etc etc? Well, you’ll have to hear it again, because this is one of those builds. What I really love about this BMW 2002 is that it was originally purchased as a daily driver, so the owner could keep his E46 in good condition, but the ’02 ended up being the main project and the E46 used to haul parts for it! Make sure you check out the custom solution the builder creates for adjusting the dampers in the front struts, it’s on page 25,+ very clever.

Every now and then I’ll waffle on about what makes a good build thread. My list of requirements usually includes nice photography, good writing, quality modifications, and the ability to tell a story. Well this is one of those threads, and I can always tell when I really like one because reading it isn’t a chore, it’s a pleasure that I never want to end, no matter how many pages I click through. The owner, Brandon, says goodbye to his very clean M52 turbo powered E34 525i and then sets out to build a manual LSX powered E39 wagon, documenting the build with images that look like they’ve been plucked straight out of a catalogue. When you see his collection of previous rides, you realise he’s one of those people who have a kind of midas touch when it comes to cars, knowing how to show restraint and refine a car with carefully chosen improvements, no matter what the make, model or era.

Thanks to Pearson for submitting. Click here for more BMW builds, or here for more engine conversions.